Ireland has officially been placed under Level 3 restrictions following a continued rise in coronavirus cases.
The new measures were announced last night by Taoiseach Micheal Martin, which followed on from a controversial 24 hours after the National Public Health Emergency Team recommended a move to Level 5 lockdown.
However, the new restrictions mark the first time that Government has gone against the advice of health chiefs.
On Sunday night, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and his colleagues at NPHET said that the entire country should be moved to Level 5 restrictions.
The news of the recommendation quickly caused panic among the public with many fearing that Ireland was heading for a lockdown similar to what we had back in April.
And while the new Level 3 restrictions will bring much change to countless people across the country, there was certainly a sigh of relief among the public.
However, there is still no guarantee that Ireland can avoid a second full lockdown.
So what is likely to happen if Covid doesn't get under control with Level 3?
Last month the government published their five stage 'Living with Covid' strategy which is aimed at bringing in or reducing restrictions based on the number of cases in a certain area or county.
And the Government has made it clear that it wants to adapt a graduated response to rising cases throughout the country.
Dr Holohan warned in a stark letter on Sunday that "a graduated approach would, ultimately, result in application of Level 5 measures as mitigation."
But given that the government has since opted for the first time to implement a different approach in contrast with advice from NPHET, it's likely that they will stick with slowly upgrading phase by phase as cases rise.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that the government actively wants to avoid Level 4 and 5 restrictions, but admitted that the situation across the country has deteriorated.
If this continues it's likely that Level 4 will be adopted nationwide or in the worst affected areas, rather than immediately entering a full lockdown.
Level 4 and 5 would see some of the harshest restrictions implemented with retailers shutting their doors once again, a ban on social gatherings both indoors and outdoors and tight restrictions on pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants, which would predominantly have to serve take away.
However Level 4 would see slightly less severe restrictions in place compared to Level 5, which would see an area under total lockdown.
